Two New York lawmakers are working to draft a bill that would propose a social media check before a gun purchase.

Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and state Sen. Kevin Palmers proposal would allow authorities to review three years of social media history and one year of internet search history of any person seeking to purchase a firearm.

Big brother is watching!

People sleep peaceably in their beds at night only because rough men stand ready to do violence on their behalf. - George Orwell

A gun is like a parachute. If you need one, and don't have one, you'll probably never need one again.

Cara Smith, chief policy officer for Sheriff Tom Dart, was clearly frustrated at the large number of permits issued over the office’s objections. Reviewing applications, and in many cases filing objections in vain, “detracts resources from our ability to combat gun violence in the city or to our other police work we’re doing.”

One case in particular underlines that frustration.

The office had filed an objection against a man whose profile photos on Facebook showed him flashing what appeared to be gang signs. In one of the photos, he had a gun tucked in the waistband of his jeans as he sat on the hood of a car.

And how will they get social media accounts (nope dont have any...feel free to look for one) or even more of concern internet search history...Coming to my home to search my computer?

I know one social media account you have. The account name is "InterestedBystander" on the site IllinoisCarry.com.

For search history, once you log in to gmail, Google catalogs everything you search on Google. Presumably the intention is to subpoena Google for all their records on you. Maybe they'll subpoena your ISP for all the IP addresses you've accessed. Of course, if you don't have a gmail account or if Google or your ISP resists, it's not going to be easy for them.

That level of government intrusion into private lives would turn bad for everyone really quickly.

The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides the further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience.- Albert Camus, Resistance, Rebellion, and Death, 1960.

And how will they get social media accounts (nope dont have any...feel free to look for one) or even more of concern internet search history...Coming to my home to search my computer?

I know one social media account you have. The account name is "InterestedBystander" on the site IllinoisCarry.com.For search history, once you log in to gmail, Google catalogs everything you search on Google. Presumably the intention is to subpoena Google for all their records on you. Maybe they'll subpoena your ISP for all the IP addresses you've accessed. Of course, if you don't have a gmail account or if Google or your ISP resists, it's not going to be easy for them.That level of government intrusion into private lives would turn bad for everyone really quickly.

It would ultimately turn bad for Google too when people start dumping Google services.

And like the SAFE Act, most sheriffs (who'll they make responsible for enforcing this) will either refuse or only do a weak-kneed, half-hearted job.

"The point of [so-called "assault weapon" bans]...is not to ban firearms that are dangerous, it's to ban firearms that gun owners want to own because the people making the laws don't like gun owners. If we want to buy non-semiauto AR-style rifles, they'll ban those too, and for the same reason."

If they're going to check social media (facebook, twitter, myspace, linkedin, etc) they will have to first pass a law requiring people to have accounts on these platforms and to post to them regularly. My only real social media account is on LinkedIn and all that's there is my career information for recruiters.

Big Jim
-----------------------------------------
I will not be commanded,
I will not be controlled
And I will not let my future go on,
without the help of my soul

If they're going to check social media (facebook, twitter, myspace, linkedin, etc) they will have to first pass a law requiring people to have accounts on these platforms and to post to them regularly. My only real social media account is on LinkedIn and all that's there is my career information for recruiters.

Good point. I don't have a twitter account. I have LinkedIn, but don't post anything publicly (just used for private conversations with recruiters) and I have Facebook, but rarely post there too, but never anything set to public. I don't see what good this would do them unless they tried to demand that I turn over all my passwords to my accounts. I've heard of employers asking this of potential new hires, but it seems like a gross overreach. How are they going to get your search history? There's obviously ways around this too, but I'm not going to get into that here. It doesn't really seem feasible to subpoena every ISP to see what you might have been searching for, when you are talking thousands of applicants.

Just wondering, I don't remember ever giving IC my real name, address, phone number, etc. when I joined. Did I and I forgot about it? I looked at my profile and don't see any such information that can be used to identify me. So if the ISP wanted to see what someone posted here could they say beyond a reasonable doubt what user id is the person they are looking into?

Big Jim
-----------------------------------------
I will not be commanded,
I will not be controlled
And I will not let my future go on,
without the help of my soul

Just wondering, I don't remember ever giving IC my real name, address, phone number, etc. when I joined. Did I and I forgot about it? I looked at my profile and don't see any such information that can be used to identify me. So if the ISP wanted to see what someone posted here could they say beyond a reasonable doubt what user id is the person they are looking into?

I was thinking the exact same thing earlier! Nothing in my profile or my settings reveals my true name. I'm not sure what the ISP could do in this case. They could trace IP addresses connecting to the website, but they can't really track usernames. Wait, when you say ISP, do you mean Internet Service Provider or IL State Police? I was speaking from the context of internet service providers.

A subpoena to your ISP could get your IP address history and probably your Internet access records. ISPs are increasingly collecting access information for marketing purposes (i.e., they sell the info, so it would be hard for them to argue customer confidentiality).

A subpoena to sites you access on the basis of your IP addresses could get your usernames and content (assuming the site isn't hosted in Croatia, e.g.).

If we live in a state where such broad surveillance is actually routine, we're far beyond worrying about only 2A infringement. Once such a mechanism is in place, it won't be used just for the original purpose. It'll be used on everybody.

As for what you gave IC, it was just an email address, unless you're a supporting member. Supporting members give more, of course. The IC web systems (or hosting provider) may keep a record of usernames and IP addresses in their access logs.

The welfare of the people in particular has always been the alibi of tyrants, and it provides the further advantage of giving the servants of tyranny a good conscience.- Albert Camus, Resistance, Rebellion, and Death, 1960.

They could trace IP addresses connecting to the website, but they can't really track usernames.

More and more copyright cases are ruling that an IP does not equate to a single person's identity when other people have access to the same Internet connection.

As for me, I have multiple social media accounts across multiple platforms, I have easily over a dozen Google accounts alone. How are they to determine what ones are exclusively controlled by me and not a family member, friend or someone that hacked my router if they are to use that info to deny me a right?

A lot of IP addresses are dynamic, reassigned every time the connection to your DSL box has to re-synchronize (i.e. log in, which the box does itself after a reset or power drop).

You also have to factor in how long they keep logs, most ISPs only keep logs in the range of 6 months to a year, few keep anything back further some much shorter this is supported by subpoenas in several copyright/torrent cases.

Also, anonymous VPN services are becoming more and more popular for privacy and again based on subpoenas in copyright infringement lawsuits several of these anonymous VPNs that claim no logs do just that, they don't keep logs.

It would seem that if a law like this was ever passed, then there is a good cause to consider taking your privacy private.

It's an unlikely process, I think.A subpoena to your ISP could get your IP address history and probably your Internet access records. ISPs are increasingly collecting access information for marketing purposes (i.e., they sell the info, so it would be hard for them to argue customer confidentiality).A subpoena to sites you access on the basis of your IP addresses could get your usernames and content (assuming the site isn't hosted in Croatia, e.g.).If we live in a state where such broad surveillance is actually routine, we're far beyond worrying about only 2A infringement. Once such a mechanism is in place, it won't be used just for the original purpose. It'll be used on everybody.As for what you gave IC, it was just an email address, unless you're a supporting member. Supporting members give more, of course. The IC web systems (or hosting provider) may keep a record of usernames and IP addresses in their access logs.

I dont think of forums as social media but you are correct that it can be revealing but I think most these days use twitter, FB, Instagram, etc which I do not. There are proxy and VPN services although I dont use as often as I should. duckduckgo.com as a google alternative gets used a fair amount. Im not as "hidden" as some but probably take more precautions than many. As for being a supporting member, I dont think I gave up any extra info.

My home computer (the one I'm posting from) is attached to my company VPN. All internet traffic goes through the office connection. At times this drives me crazy. If I browse a site like Best Buy or Menard's and don't login to my account their websites automatically assume I'm in downtown Chicago and tell me my closest store is located in downtown Chicago. In our office only servers have reserved IPs. Us users get randomly assigned IPs which get resigned every time we reboot. Given that I work for a world wide software provider the ISP would have to get a subpoena to get my employer to give up anything.

Big Jim
-----------------------------------------
I will not be commanded,
I will not be controlled
And I will not let my future go on,
without the help of my soul

A lot of IP addresses are dynamic, reassigned every time the connection to your DSL box has to re-synchronize (i.e. log in, which the box does itself after a reset or power drop).

You also have to factor in how long they keep logs, most ISPs only keep logs in the range of 6 months to a year, few keep anything back further some much shorter this is supported by subpoenas in several copyright/torrent cases.

Also, anonymous VPN services are becoming more and more popular for privacy and again based on subpoenas in copyright infringement lawsuits several of these anonymous VPNs that claim no logs do just that, they don't keep logs.

It would seem that if a law like this was ever passed, then there is a good cause to consider taking your privacy private.

This is a perfect reason to use a VPN service, though I would avoid the free ones and stay way from any that are within the 14 Eyes.